Bedding in hill country national forest land

[HillCountryHunter-15]

Hello, I am new to the forum and have really started researching mature buck bedding and have recently starting implying these tactics to my hunting strategies. The area I hunt has tons of public land (tens of thousands of acres) but pretty much all of it is national forest with rolling hills which usually has a 100-200ft elevation change from a point off a ridge to the bottom below. Once you get to the bottom you usually can walk about 50-75 yards and thats when you begin to start going up the opposite hill. This public land doesn't consist of any ag fields just hardwoods.

I was wondering if the bedding situation is the same here; will the bucks bed at the points off these ridges? My guess is that they will but wanted to get some input of people that may have the same situation as me. I have gotten about half way through the Hill Country Bucks DVD by Dan but it seems like a lot of the land on that DVD is hill country that includes ag fields in the bottoms. Also, my second question is if the bucks are bedding on the points of these ridges are they usually dropping off to the bottom when they get up from their bed in the evening or are they most likely working the top of the ridge?

[Racks&Beards]

My family's land is literally smack in the middle of southern MO's Mark Twain national forests. Exact type of terrain you're describing. In my experience the bucks do tend to bed out toward the points, and they like cruise the shelves around the hillsides. The majority of the trailcam pics of bucks that are in our little fields and food plots up on top of the hill are mostly taken well after dark.

[HillCountryHunter-15]

My family's land is literally smack in the middle of southern MO's Mark Twain national forests. Exact type of terrain you're describing. In my experience the bucks do tend to bed out toward the points, and they like cruise the shelves around the hillsides. The majority of the trailcam pics of bucks that are in our little fields and food plots up on top of the hill are mostly taken well after dark.

Thanks for the reply Racks&Beards! I am actually located in SW MO so this is the exact terrain ha.

[Racks&Beards]

Thanks for the reply Racks&Beards! I am actually located in SW MO so this is the exact terrain ha.

Probably close to the same area then. Cause our property is in Taney county. I'm from Forsyth originally.

I took the buck in my profile pic last year cruising the shelf about 1/3rd down the hill in early November.

[parkerdurham]

I'm not familiar with Missouri, but hunt similar hill country in North Mississippi. The first thing I look for is thick cover that will provide security for a bedded buck, and then narrow it down from there. I have found that the deer will tend to bed on a slope where they can see further (downhill), but their options really depend on the size of the particular thicket or bedding area. They could have several beds relatively close together that they will alternate depending on wind direction, or they could only use that particular thicket on a specific wind direction.

Where they go from there depends on a lot of things. I set up on the best sign I can find coming out of there, and if no dice there, I'll move.

[whi52873]

I hunt the exact same terrain you're describing.

I hunt NW Arkansas.....Ozark mountains.....no ag and rolling hardwoods.

Bucks do bed on the points.....IME, a lot more will bed on secondary points jetting off the main ridge system. Not sure if this is due to pressure on the main point or what......

After reading & learning about thermals on this site, I would always set up in the bottoms in the afternoons expecting to see deer dropping off the points from their beds. I don't know how many times I sat and saw nothing.....so I knew I was doing something wrong....or at least in my area where there is no ag in the bottoms.

Instead, I decided to hunt the head of a drainage one afternoon between two ridges where I knew a couple bucks were bedding and where I thought I could get away with my thermals dropping. About 45 minutes before dark, I spotted two bucks. They were bedded exactly how Dan describes....military crest and wind to their back. They stood up out of their bed and started walking towards the bottom......they went about 20 or 30 yards and got about halfway down the ridge. Then they turned and faced exactly where they came from and started slowly browsing back up the ridge......I assume they dropped to give themselves a little more time for the thermals to kick in and start falling in their face. Both walked straight up the ridge to me and I ended up shooting the bigger 9 point.

From that moment on, I started hunting the head of drainage's in the afternoons and not the creek bottoms and have seen deer almost every hunt. In my area, the tops of the ridges have more sunlight which creates way more browse for the deer. Also, the white oaks tend to grow higher in elevation because there is less water.....good to know for early October. In general, the food is up top in the hardwoods I hunt.

I know I am all over the place but I would start by hunting the heads of some drainage's in higher elevation where you can observe the leeward side bedding and see what the deer do when they get out of bed in your area. I always assumed they dropped to the bottoms because of thermals but they wont do that if the food is up top. They will drop slightly and "stage" as they browse up the ridge while using the thermals dropping in their face.

I hope this helps....it may be different in your area but this is what I've experienced in the exact same terrain you've described.

[The Mediocre Hunter]

I hunt the exact same terrain you're describing.

I hunt NW Arkansas.....Ozark mountains.....no ag and rolling hardwoods.

Bucks do bed on the points.....IME, a lot more will bed on secondary points jetting off the main ridge system. Not sure if this is due to pressure on the main point or what......

After reading & learning about thermals on this site, I would always set up in the bottoms in the afternoons expecting to see deer dropping off the points from their beds. I don't know how many times I sat and saw nothing.....so I knew I was doing something wrong....or at least in my area where there is no ag in the bottoms.

Instead, I decided to hunt the head of a drainage one afternoon between two ridges where I knew a couple bucks were bedding and where I thought I could get away with my thermals dropping. About 45 minutes before dark, I spotted two bucks. They were bedded exactly how Dan describes....military crest and wind to their back. They stood up out of their bed and started walking towards the bottom......they went about 20 or 30 yards and got about halfway down the ridge. Then they turned and faced exactly where they came from and started slowly browsing back up the ridge......I assume they dropped to give themselves a little more time for the thermals to kick in and start falling in their face. Both walked straight up the ridge to me and I ended up shooting the bigger 9 point.

From that moment on, I started hunting the head of drainage's in the afternoons and not the creek bottoms and have seen deer almost every hunt. In my area, the tops of the ridges have more sunlight which creates way more browse for the deer. Also, the white oaks tend to grow higher in elevation because there is less water.....good to know for early October. In general, the food is up top in the hardwoods I hunt.

I know I am all over the place but I would start by hunting the heads of some drainage's in higher elevation where you can observe the leeward side bedding and see what the deer do when they get out of bed in your area. I always assumed they dropped to the bottoms because of thermals but they wont do that if the food is up top. They will drop slightly and "stage" as they browse up the ridge while using the thermals dropping in their face.

I hope this helps....it may be different in your area but this is what I've experienced in the exact same terrain you've described.

That makes alot of sense. Glad you brought it up. I hunt basically the same terrain (Northeast/East Central Oklahoma). I had tried dropping to the bottom for evening but the only time I've seen a buck down in the bottom in the evening is he was cruising next to the creek. Another time I bumped a buck that was bedded looking into a wide open forest section with virtually no undergrowth and had a few saplings behind him. I'll have to try the drainage attack and see how it goes. Problem for me is locating the buck beds before I bump them.

[HillCountryHunter-15]

I hunt the exact same terrain you're describing.

I hunt NW Arkansas.....Ozark mountains.....no ag and rolling hardwoods.

Bucks do bed on the points.....IME, a lot more will bed on secondary points jetting off the main ridge system. Not sure if this is due to pressure on the main point or what......

After reading & learning about thermals on this site, I would always set up in the bottoms in the afternoons expecting to see deer dropping off the points from their beds. I don't know how many times I sat and saw nothing.....so I knew I was doing something wrong....or at least in my area where there is no ag in the bottoms.

Instead, I decided to hunt the head of a drainage one afternoon between two ridges where I knew a couple bucks were bedding and where I thought I could get away with my thermals dropping. About 45 minutes before dark, I spotted two bucks. They were bedded exactly how Dan describes....military crest and wind to their back. They stood up out of their bed and started walking towards the bottom......they went about 20 or 30 yards and got about halfway down the ridge. Then they turned and faced exactly where they came from and started slowly browsing back up the ridge......I assume they dropped to give themselves a little more time for the thermals to kick in and start falling in their face. Both walked straight up the ridge to me and I ended up shooting the bigger 9 point.

From that moment on, I started hunting the head of drainage's in the afternoons and not the creek bottoms and have seen deer almost every hunt. In my area, the tops of the ridges have more sunlight which creates way more browse for the deer. Also, the white oaks tend to grow higher in elevation because there is less water.....good to know for early October. In general, the food is up top in the hardwoods I hunt.

I know I am all over the place but I would start by hunting the heads of some drainage's in higher elevation where you can observe the leeward side bedding and see what the deer do when they get out of bed in your area. I always assumed they dropped to the bottoms because of thermals but they wont do that if the food is up top. They will drop slightly and "stage" as they browse up the ridge while using the thermals dropping in their face.

I hope this helps....it may be different in your area but this is what I've experienced in the exact same terrain you've described.

whi52873, thanks for the info! Sounds like our terrain features are very similar here in SW MO as they are in NW AR.

I will agree that I feel the deer are working the tops of the ridges more than the bottom as that is where I am finding all of the sign (rubs, scrapes, deer droppings, etc.). Also, our bottoms can vary depending on the location. Some bottoms in the hills have a creek running through them so the browse for the deer is very limited when you reach the bottom. The bottoms that don't have a creek running through them typically will have some oaks on the hillside and I have found some pretty significant sign in the bottoms with oak trees. Your post brings up a couple of questions that I hope you can answer though..

The ridges on public land here typically have a main ridge with points jetting off to the left and right. This main ridge will have a logging road down the middle of it (usually walking path only) and you can jet off to the left or right and start walking the point jetting out from the main ridge. In most cases you are walking this point for a couple of hundred yards before reaching the military crest where the deer will bed. Wouldn't the longer points make it a little harder to hunt the head of a drainage since the drainage head between two points would be a couple of hundred yards from the military crest? This would make it to where you couldn't really be close enough to see the deer actually getting out of his bed. Also, since our main ridges here typically have that logging road going down the middle of it, if I did end up hunting a drainage head I would most likely end up being 50-75 yards from the logging road which could deter deer from being in that area during daylight hours.

[whi52873]

[/quote]whi52873, thanks for the info! Sounds like our terrain features are very similar here in SW MO as they are in NW AR.

I will agree that I feel the deer are working the tops of the ridges more than the bottom as that is where I am finding all of the sign (rubs, scrapes, deer droppings, etc.). Also, our bottoms can vary depending on the location. Some bottoms in the hills have a creek running through them so the browse for the deer is very limited when you reach the bottom. The bottoms that don't have a creek running through them typically will have some oaks on the hillside and I have found some pretty significant sign in the bottoms with oak trees. Your post brings up a couple of questions that I hope you can answer though..

The ridges on public land here typically have a main ridge with points jetting off to the left and right. This main ridge will have a logging road down the middle of it (usually walking path only) and you can jet off to the left or right and start walking the point jetting out from the main ridge. In most cases you are walking this point for a couple of hundred yards before reaching the military crest where the deer will bed. Wouldn't the longer points make it a little harder to hunt the head of a drainage since the drainage head between two points would be a couple of hundred yards from the military crest? This would make it to where you couldn't really be close enough to see the deer actually getting out of his bed. Also, since our main ridges here typically have that logging road going down the middle of it, if I did end up hunting a drainage head I would most likely end up being 50-75 yards from the logging road which could deter deer from being in that area during daylight hours.[/quote]

We have the same logging road scenario where I hunt. All the old logging roads are up top on the main points which double as mountain bike/horse trails when the forestry department is not thinning. Also, this is where 99% of all hunter access/pressure comes from.

To your point, those longer secondary points would be harder to see them get out of bed for sure. I've jumped way more bucks on shorter/subtle secondary points. I'm not sure why that it is.....maybe because they can hear/smell anything accessing the old logging road/horse trail behind them and can obviously see anything below them...that's just my experience...I'm not saying bucks don't bed on those longer points. I've attached an example of the exact scenario/location I killed my buck this year. It was a south wind and an overlooked spot next to the road. This area was thinned about 5 years ago and is super thick with briers and blackberry. Nobody ever hunts it because it's so thick. I carry a set of pruning shears with me to cut a trail without making a ton of noise and take my time getting in.

The blue is the route both bucks took out of their bed. The red is my access and stand location. You're using a just off wind and letting your thermals fall in the drainage right before dark.

Example v2.JPG

[HillCountryHunter-15]

We have the same logging road scenario where I hunt. All the old logging roads are up top on the main points which double as mountain bike/horse trails when the forestry department is not thinning. Also, this is where 99% of all hunter access/pressure comes from.

To your point, those longer secondary points would be harder to see them get out of bed for sure. I've jumped way more bucks on shorter/subtle secondary points. I'm not sure why that it is.....maybe because they can hear/smell anything accessing the old logging road/horse trail behind them and can obviously see anything below them...that's just my experience...I'm not saying bucks don't bed on those longer points. I've attached an example of the exact scenario/location I killed my buck this year. It was a south wind and an overlooked spot next to the road. This area was thinned about 5 years ago and is super thick with briers and blackberry. Nobody ever hunts it because it's so thick. I carry a set of pruning shears with me to cut a trail without making a ton of noise and take my time getting in.

The blue is the route both bucks took out of their bed. The red is my access and stand location. You're using a just off wind and letting your thermals fall in the drainage right before dark.

Example v2.JPG

Now that you say that it would make perfect sense for a mature buck to bed on those more subtle points; being closer to the logging road would definitely give their hearing an advantage and be able to alert them more quickly when someone is trying to set up on them. Guess I will just have to find some more subtle points on the main ridge and try scouting them out to see what kind of sign I can run into.

Were you hunting from a stand when you killed that buck or was it so thick you were able to pull off a ground hunt?

[whi52873]

We have the same logging road scenario where I hunt. All the old logging roads are up top on the main points which double as mountain bike/horse trails when the forestry department is not thinning. Also, this is where 99% of all hunter access/pressure comes from.

To your point, those longer secondary points would be harder to see them get out of bed for sure. I've jumped way more bucks on shorter/subtle secondary points. I'm not sure why that it is.....maybe because they can hear/smell anything accessing the old logging road/horse trail behind them and can obviously see anything below them...that's just my experience...I'm not saying bucks don't bed on those longer points. I've attached an example of the exact scenario/location I killed my buck this year. It was a south wind and an overlooked spot next to the road. This area was thinned about 5 years ago and is super thick with briers and blackberry. Nobody ever hunts it because it's so thick. I carry a set of pruning shears with me to cut a trail without making a ton of noise and take my time getting in.

The blue is the route both bucks took out of their bed. The red is my access and stand location. You're using a just off wind and letting your thermals fall in the drainage right before dark.
Example v2.JPG

Now that you say that it would make perfect sense for a mature buck to bed on those more subtle points; being closer to the logging road would definitely give their hearing an advantage and be able to alert them more quickly when someone is trying to set up on them. Guess I will just have to find some more subtle points on the main ridge and try scouting them out to see what kind of sign I can run into.

Were you hunting from a stand when you killed that buck or was it so thick you were able to pull off a ground hunt?

I was in a stand. It's crazy how much thicker things look at eye level compared to 15-20 ft in a tree.

[HillCountryHunter-15]

I was in a stand. It's crazy how much thicker things look at eye level compared to 15-20 ft in a tree.

Yeah I was curious about that. I haven't hunted many thickets (kind of detoured me in the past because of access), but I may have to take some climbing sticks in those thick areas when scouting to have a "birds eye" view before going in for a set up. Probably would work well in a couple of weeks since the public around here gets pounded during rifle season and a lot of the deer get pushed back into those thicker spots.

[whi52873]

I was in a stand. It's crazy how much thicker things look at eye level compared to 15-20 ft in a tree.

Yeah I was curious about that. I haven't hunted many thickets (kind of detoured me in the past because of access), but I may have to take some climbing sticks in those thick areas when scouting to have a "birds eye" view before going in for a set up. Probably would work well in a couple of weeks since the public around here gets pounded during rifle season and a lot of the deer get pushed back into those thicker spots.

That's exactly what happens here also. So many hunters hunt the open hardwoods because it's easy to access and setup. The deer are concentrated in the those super thick areas because the average hunter is not willing to spend the time to cut a trail or walk through those briers.

[The Mediocre Hunter]

I was in a stand. It's crazy how much thicker things look at eye level compared to 15-20 ft in a tree.

Yeah I was curious about that. I haven't hunted many thickets (kind of detoured me in the past because of access), but I may have to take some climbing sticks in those thick areas when scouting to have a "birds eye" view before going in for a set up. Probably would work well in a couple of weeks since the public around here gets pounded during rifle season and a lot of the deer get pushed back into those thicker spots.

That's exactly what happens here also. So many hunters hunt the open hardwoods because it's easy to access and setup. The deer are concentrated in the those super thick areas because the average hunter is not willing to spend the time to cut a trail or walk through those briers.

Would that be the thicker stuff down in the bottom or thicker stuff up on top?

[HillCountryHunter-15]

Would that be the thicker stuff down in the bottom or thicker stuff up on top?

This would be the thicker stuff on top. Typically right off an access trail/logging road going into a secondary point off of the main ridge.